


Lentils and liminal spaces

by Starryeyedrichie



Category: The Young Ones (TV 1982)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sickness, Time Travel... sort of, vyvyan's shitty childhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starryeyedrichie/pseuds/Starryeyedrichie
Summary: Vyvyan eats some out of date lentils and experiences an unintended side effect.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Lentils and liminal spaces

They’d all warned him not to eat those week-old lentils. But that was one of the problems living with Vyvyan had, he’d never been very capable of following instructions. He didn’t feel any different as he scooped them from the filthy saucepan where they’d been festering and into his mouth while the others looked on in horror. He didn’t feel any different when the 4 of them were watching Bastard Squad on the sofa (apart from rick, who was perched on the rickety chair like always). 

It was about an hour later, when he was playing a good old-fashioned game of “stop hitting yourself” with a rather unwilling Rick, that he started to feel unwell. His stomach made a hellish gurgling noise and what little colour his face had to begin with completely drained as his grip loosened on rick’s arm. 

“Ha! Finally given up, have you-” Rick began to tease. He stopped when he saw how paper white Vyvyan was turning. 

“Vyvyan?” he gently held on to his housemate’s arm, concerned. 

“Oh god, It feels… like someone’s jammed a banger up my bottom…” Vyv groaned. 

And with that, everything went black. 

“Blummin flip! Neil! Mike! Vyvyan’s dead!” Rick panicked. 

Mike peeked over the top of his newspaper, Neil looked over from the sink where he was washing up again.

“Rick, you don’t need to shout, that’s really bad for your chakras. I’m right here, doing the washing up like I always-” The hippie began.

“There’s a dead body on the pwemises, Neil! I think I’m entitled to a little bit of shouting!”

“Now wait just a second, boys. Save the arguing for parliament, we’ve got a dead body on our hands!” Mike interjected from behind the paper. 

Vyvyan groaned.

“Bloody hell, he’s not dead! He’s not dead!” Rick grabbed Vyvyan by the chain around his neck, in an attempt to haul him onto the sofa. Neil dropped the plate he was washing and rushed over. 

“No, Rick, no! Not like that, you’ll strangle him!” He hooked his arms under his sleeping housemates’ and lifted his upper half onto the grimy red sofa, followed by his legs. 

Vyvyan didn’t remember waking up. He must have at one point or another, because he was- Wait. Where was he!? This wasn’t the decrepit student house he’s passed out in. it was… worse. The bare walls were stained a disgusting brown, and they absolutely stank. Did anyone even live here? A soft murmuring and a flashing light filled the air, the source being an old TV, stuttering and threatening to give out. Moonlight streamed through the cracked, curtainless windows. A strange... something hung in the air, as if time had slowed down into a thick jelly. Those lentils must’ve been rancid if they could knock him out until the middle of the night. The punk checked his watch. 

“I wish I could tell the time.” He said to no one in particular. Oh well, now that he was here, he might as well go exploring. 

Vyvyan quickly deduced from his surroundings that he was standing in some kind of living room area, with the floor covered in a layer of empty cans and cigarette butts. His heavy boots made light work of the debris, making a path. That’s when he saw it. On the sofa. Well, not it.

Him.

A little boy was sat there, wrapped in a thin blanket and shivering. He couldn’t have been more than 5 years old, with a pale, gaunt face and straggly blonde hair that looked as if he’d cut it himself. The strange child looked up at him warily. 

And in that moment, the reality of the situation hit him like an exploding brick to the head. He should’ve recognised this place immediately, he spent 13 years here. And what an utterly miserable 13 years they’d been. 

13 years of that bitch he called a mother taking her frustrations out on him. Of not knowing when the next time he would get anything to eat would be. Sleepless nights of listening to the neighbours fighting through the thin walls. The constant smell of alcohol and cigarettes in the air. His mother sometimes not coming home for days at a time and only having the TV for company. He guessed that this small child was in a similar situation.

“Are you my mum’s new boyfriend?” The boy asked, his voice barely audible.

“Wh- no, I’m… very confused. Who are you, little mate?” 

“I’m Vyvyan… but I’m not a girl!” 

No… surely not. Surely there was a mistake. It wasn’t possible! 

“Look… I’m not sure what’s happening here, but I think… I must be you, only when you’re all grown up.” 

The smaller Vyvyan looked confused. Adult Vyvyan continued, kneeling down next to the sofa.

“I remember all of this… being cold and hungry all the time, mum not being around-”

Suddenly, there was a tight pressure around his torso. He looked down to see his younger self clinging onto him. The sound of weeping filled the air, against the harsh stuttering of the television. 

“O-oh…” He patted the child’s back, feeling a strange sense of compassion for him.  
When the pressure of the hug was released, he looked at the tiny face in front of him. Red, tear-streaked, with wisps of choppy hair stuck to where it was wet. If hearts could physically break, Vyvyan’s would’ve been crushed into a thousand pieces. His hands found themselves steadying tiny trembling shoulders.

“Listen, I remember how much you hated it here… but I suppose I’m proof that you’re going to be ok… ish. You might see her at the pub sometimes, but you’ll never see any of her boyfriends ever again.” 

The little boy sniffed and wiped his nose “Not even…”

“Especially not him” Vyv shuddered at the memory.

Slowly but surely, the sobbing quietened until it could barely be heard. As he helped dry the child’s eyes with the least manky tissues he could find scattered amongst the litter, Vyvyan felt a strangely familiar sickness. As if his soul had left his body and had decided to wander off down the road. Everything around him started to blur, and no matter how hard he blinked, it wouldn’t go away. 

“Listen… I don’t think I can stay here for much longer” he carefully explained.

“Why? Stay here until mum gets back!” 

“I- I can’t, need to get back to… now, when you’re a grownup.”

He gave the child one last hug while he could still see him. Everything went black after that.

“Vyvyan? Vyvyan? Wake up, you bastard!”

“Don’t shout at him Rick, he needs time to adjust”

“Breathe, Vyv, don’t deprive the old slab”

“Aye laddie, you’re not kicking the bucket just yet!”

The 4 separate voices echoed in the barely conscious punk’s ears. A familiar mouldy, crumbling white ceiling slowly came into his view. 

“What… happened? Where am I?” he groaned

Everyone blinked, before Neil finally spoke up.

“Uh... yeah, Vyv, you kind of fainted when you ate those old lentils… rick thought you died”

“I did not, neil! What a pathetic thing to lie about! I wish you weally did die, it would give us guys a bit of peace and quiet! In fact-” Rick began.

“Oh, do shut up, Rick! I’ve only been awake for- ” Vyvyan frowned at his watch. “About a minute, and your mindless drivelling is already giving me a headache!”

“I’m surpwised your head can ache! Your bwain is pwobably wattling awound in your head like a little walnut!”

“Right!” Vyv lept up, as if nothing happened. Rick’s face fell. 

“No! I- I didn’t mean it! Only joking!” he laughed nervously. Too late. He took off up the stairs, his feral housemate thumping up behind him.

Neil and mike looked at eachother before both turning towards an unseen person and sighing.


End file.
